House votes to take ANC off terror no-entry lists
WASHINGTON - The House, saying it was correcting a longstanding injustice, voted yesterday to drop apartheid-era travel restrictions and terrorist designations given Nelson Mandela and other African National Congress people who fought white minority rule.
"Despite recognizing two decades ago that America's place was on the side of those oppressed by apartheid, Congress has never resolved the inconsistency in our immigration code that treats many of those who actively opposed apartheid in South Africa as terrorists and criminals," said Representative Howard Berman, a California Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The House approved by voice vote legislation to give the State Department and Homeland Security Department wide latitude to disregard the ANC's antiapartheid activities when determining whether to allow members and former members into the United States.
The bill also adds the ANC to a list of groups that should not be considered terrorist organizations.
"Despite his legacy as a hero of the antiapartheid movement, despite the fact that he is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient . . . despite his election as president, we still require Nelson Mandela to apply for a visa waiver to enter into the United States just for a visit. This is just plain wrong," said Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California.
The African National Congress is the ruling party in the democratic, postapartheid South Africa, but was considered a terrorist organization by the preapartheid white minority government.
"The ANC is not a terrorist organization now," said Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress last month to pass the legislation. She called it "embarrassing" that she still has to waive travel restrictions when Mandela and other ANC leaders visit the United States.
A similar bill is moving through the Senate.
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